Did he rat on his friends? Did he insult someone? Make a mistake? Could he have written what he said instead and still been more successful? Was he successful, but could have been more so? Or did he fail and would not have done had he kept his mouth shut?

Did he avoid swallowing something? Was he attacked by a facehugger alien?

Just a comment, not a question: Doesn't this apply to most of us?A question: does 'keeping his mouth shut' mean not speaking? or not opening it for another reason, e.g. eating/drinking? at the dentist's office?

Did he got in trouble because of speaking? eating? drinking? kissing? None of these Successful at work? in family life? in sports? This in arts? in hobby?Was he human? adult? male? As are all men Do both "he's" refer to the same person? They do

Did he rat on his friends? No Did he insult someone? No Make a mistake? I guess you could call it that Could he have written what he said instead and still been more successful? False Assumption Was he successful, but could have been more so? Yes Or did he fail and would not have done had he kept his mouth shut? No

Did he avoid swallowing something? Was he attacked by a facehugger alien? No but points for lateralness

Just a comment, not a question: Doesn't this apply to most of us? No A question: does 'keeping his mouth shut' mean not speaking? No or not opening it for another reason, e.g. eating/drinking? at the dentist's office? Yes for other reason no for your example.

Balin Did something fly into his mouth? No (I'm curious as to whether you were thinking about Raiders of the Lost Ark) Did he swallow something? No Did he intentionally open his mouth? No and opening the mouth is part of another action , He's unaware that he's doing it

Did he make a noise with his mouth? Not relevantly Did he open it while performing a sport? Yes Did he open it in response to an emotion? A physical sensation? No to both Did he open it wide? No and that's an important point, the opening of the mouth is only part of what he did

Did he perform a team sport? Did he perform a sport in which two teams or individuals compete against each other? Was he wearing anything over his face when he opened his mouth? Was he underwater when he opened his mouth?

Did he perform a team sport? No Did he perform a sport in which two teams or individuals compete against each other? Two players Was he wearing anything over his face when he opened his mouth? No Was he underwater when he opened his mouth? No

Did he engage in another relevant activity besides sports (i.e. advertising, politics)? Did he open his mouth to shout? cry? Did he lose a match as a result of not keeping his mouth shut? Did he get injured as a result of not keeping his mouth shut?

Did he engage in another relevant activity besides sports (i.e. advertising, politics)? No Did he open his mouth to shout? cry? neither Did he lose a match as a result of not keeping his mouth shut? It contributed to some defeats yes Did he get injured as a result of not keeping his mouth shut? No

Sorry, did mean to wish you happy anniversary! Did you know that Sporcle has its 10th birthday this Sunday? I aboslutely adore Sporcle. My daughters and I have the occasional sporcle evening. We know enough between us to do very well.

Did he relevantly not keep his mouth shut more than once? Lots of times Did he emit a sound when he opened his mouth? Not relevantly Did he open his mouth to sneeze? To yawn? no and he only opens his mouth a little bit.

Is his breathing technique relevant? Was he tired out more quickly? Move more slowly? Statistically less effective over time, or did he lose every game he played while opening his mouth in this manner? A specific game, such as a championship match? Does it matter who he was up against? Had his opponent also opened his mouth in the same way, would there have been a tie or otherwise not a certain loss by our protagonist?

Did he lose points for missed shots or was it more for insubordination on the court? I should clarify that by losing points I meant failed to win a rally/point . He wasn't deducted points. He lost the points due to his opponent scoring a winner

Is his breathing technique relevant? Was he tired out more quickly? Move more slowly? No to these Statistically less effective over time Yes , or did he lose every game he played while opening his mouth in this manner? No A specific game, such as a championship match? Not just one match Does it matter who he was up against? Very much so , the action (of which opening one's mouth is a part of) only caused him difficulty against one opponent Had his opponent also opened his mouth in the same way, would there have been a tie or otherwise not a certain loss by our protagonist? It's possible but highly unlikely

When he opened his mouth, did he get distracted? Did his opponent get distracted? Was the action that included opening the mouth deliberate? Was it meant to distract the opponent? Amuse the spectators? Make fun of the opponent?

When he opened his mouth, did he get distracted? No Did his opponent get distracted? No Was the action that included opening the mouth deliberate? No, I very much doubt he was aware he was doing it Was it meant to distract the opponent? Amuse the spectators? Make fun of the opponent? No to rest

Is the location of the relevant matches relevant? Type of pitch relevant? Is it relevant why specifically he did not get the point? Does the action involving opening the mouth involve also: nose? eyes? hands? legs? head?

Is the location of the relevant matches relevant? no Type of pitch relevant? No Is it relevant why specifically he did not get the point? Yes Does the action involving opening the mouth involve also: nose? eyes? hands? legs? head? No , ask yourself why you might open your mouth but not speak

Did he lose the point while doing a serve? Did he lose because of hitting the ball out of the pitch? Did he lose because he was too slow to reach the ball? Did his face indicate his opponent the direction in which he would move?

Did he inadvertently communicate something to his opponent by opening his mouth? Yes Had the opponent made a connection between what he did with his mouth and what he did in the game? Pecisely

Acridian9 Was he: smiling? breathing from mouth? whistling? grinning teeth? biting his tongue? An element of this perhaps biting a lip? spitting? No to rest

Redwine Did he lose the point while doing a serve? Yes Did he lose because of hitting the ball out of the pitch? Did he lose because he was too slow to reach the ball? No Did his face indicate his opponent the direction in which he would move? Yes

Balin Unfortunately I was not thinking of Raiders, sorry. Are you familiar with the reference?

Wild shot - did he swallow the ball somehow? No Did he stick his tongue out? Yes

Grip Would he make a bad poker player? Very much so before he uses a certain tactic\move like a backhand, does he inadvertently give it away with his mouth gestures? Spot on

You're all very much on the right track so we can move on to the

***************Spoiler**********************

Andre Agassi recently revealed in an interview why his record against rival Boris Becker was so good. Agassi had picked up on a 'tell' that had crept into Boris' routine. He always stuck his tongue out while serving and this was well known but what most people didn't know was that he would stick his tongue out of the side of the mouth which corresponded with the direction that he was planning to serve to. Agassi picked up on this and knew by the postition of Boris' tongue whether the serve was going wide to the tramlines or down the centre of the court.

This gave him a huge advantage , before noticing the tell Agassi had an 0-3 record against Becker but won 10 of their next 11 meetings after that.

So Boris would have been more successful had he simply kept his mouth shut.

The puzzle title for those who didn't guess is a quote from the movie 'Goodfellas' in which gangster Jimmy Conway gives this advice to a young Henry Hill 'You've learned the two greatest things in life, never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut'

Thanks for playing and well done to you all who pretty much arrived at the solution together.

I believe the Raiders reference is to the scene in the movie where Indy threatens to blow up the ark with a missile launcher. As Belloq is speaking to him the actor playing Belloq accidentally swallows a fly that enters his mouth. But the actor, being a pro, just keeps talking as if nothing happened.

That's what I was referring to . Actually I've read that he doesn't swallow the fly but in the movie it certainly looks like he did. It's just a piece of movie editing where the fly is on his face and has obviously flown away by the time the next edited shot is displayed . The IMDB trivia section explains it better.

During the scene where Indiana threatens the Nazis with a Panzerfaust, you can clearly see a fly creeping into the mouth of Paul Freeman. Contrary to popular belief, he did not swallow it. Freeman explained in an interview years later that the fly flew off at about the instant he uttered the word "bad," but Steven Spielberg noticed it and decided it would be funny to cut out a few frames so the fly would not be seen flying away. This made it look as though Freeman ate it, and he found the edit highly amusing. Empire Magazine chose this scene as one of the most common scenes for which people press the "Pause" button on their VCRs.